Ben's Chores
by Mr. BG
Summary: It's not easy being Benjamin Tennyson as Gwen soon finds out. What happens next will help set the future for our two favorite youngsters. BenXGwen One-Shot.


**Disclaimer:** I do not own Ben 10. This fic happens after the episode "Ready to Rumble"

**Author's note:** Last fic for now. After this I might not be able to write for at least say a few months. Hope you like it. You probably already noticed that I don't do italic words to show the character thinking. Instead I just make it as part of the story without them actually saying it to save more time. It also makes it more dramatic for some unknown reason.

Gwen awoke bright and early. She stretches out her arms and climbs down her bunk bed. She checks Ben's bed and notices he wasn't there. What's the doofus up to this time?

She makes her way to the front of the RV and notices Ben sitting there, doing nothing in particular. He already finished his meal and seems to be waiting for something.

"Watcha doin dweeb?" Gwen inquires.

"Waiting for you to finish eating breakfast." The boy said without looking at her.

"Why?" She asks but Ben didn't answer. Sometimes you are just so weird Ben. She takes a seat on the other side and looks at her disgusting meal. It was cooked by their grandfather as usual. Surprisingly, Ben didn't tease her while she ate even though he knows Gwen disliked Max's cooking very much. After she finished, she was about to place it in the sink but Ben stood up first and took her plate as he gathered up the rest and proceeds to the sink.

Gwen became very confuse at first before finally remembering why he did this. Oh yeah, I tricked Ben into doing my chores for the whole summer when he mistakenly thought he broke my laptop. Sweet! I get off chore-free! Gwen takes a quick shower and exits the bathroom dressed in her regular clothes. She notices Ben struggling with the dishes since he doesn't actually know how to do chores. He is so lazy!

She found it funny and started giggling taking a seat far away from him. She opens her laptop and was surprise to see Ben glaring at her angrily. Guess he's still mad at Gwen for tricking him. Max enters the vehicle and notices Ben washing the dishes as Gwen sat at the other end typing at her laptop. He lets out a sigh.

"Gwen don't you think Ben has already learned his lesson?" Max confronts her.

"No way. He should've asked permission for using my laptop and he should've just told me when he thought he broke it." Gwen crossed her arms.

"Gwen, you know Ben. He was afraid of you getting mad at him. Still it was nice of him to try and win the prize money at that wrestling tournament thing so he could buy you a new laptop." Max said taking a seat in front of her.

Gwen was feeling guilty but she remained stubborn. "If Ben wouldn't have been so annoying none of this would have happened." She said smiling, satisfied of her answer.

"Gwen, Ben carries a huge responsibility with having the Omnitrix. Not only does he have to deal with aliens, he also has to deal with school and other stuff. He's still a ten year old boy. He hardly has anytime to have fun like any normal child so he tries to make up for it with spare time even if his definition of fun is a little destructive." Max said. Oh, he's good. He's very good. He knows exactly what to say to make Gwen feel guilty.

"What about me? I help him fight aliens too! I still find time to do other important things. Ben just needs to learn to get his priorities straight." Gwen said looking at her cousin who continues to struggle with the dishes. Seeing this, she chuckled slightly.

"Unlike you, Ben isn't exactly the perfect child. You always excelled in your studies, in sports and in other things but Ben's not like you. He struggles in school trying hard not to fail his class. He has to put up with those bullies that pick on him and on top of all that he's a living bulls-eye on the minds of every greedy alien or human that wants the Omnitrix on his wrist. Understand how difficult Ben's life can be. You're right about one thing though, your magic is a huge help for Ben. I do however recall Ben saving your life over and over again. Doesn't that count for something?" Max said raising a brow.

"Name at least 5 instances where he saved my life." Gwen challenged him.

"Okay then. How about the time Kevin almost burned you as Heatblast. The time Ghostfreak possessed your body and Ben had to surrender himself to save you. The time Vilgax took us as hostages and Ben willingly took our place. The time he saved you from Rojo. The time he stopped Zombozo from taking your soul. The time he saved you and the campers from those giant mushroom monsters. The time he fought those aliens that almost destroyed Edwin's submarine with both you and Edwin in it. The time we were controlled by Sublimino and he saved you from falling off the third floor of the mall. The time when…"

"Okay, okay I get it." Gwen snapped. "I guess I do owe Ben a lot." She said softly.

"Just remember Gwen." Max said standing up and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Ben might be mischievous at times. He may get on your nerves and play pranks on you but Ben really does care about you. He would willingly risk his life for you. Think about that and try not to be so hard on him." Max said with a smile.

Gwen wanted to make a comeback but she couldn't. Why can't I think of something? Anything at all? So without thinking she just blurted out the first thing that came across her mind.

"Why would Ben care about me when he has a crush on that girl Kai?" She said mentioning Kai's name in a mocking tone. Gwen couldn't believe what she just said. What did I just say to Grandpa? What if he misunderstood it for something else? God, I am such an idiot! She slapped her forehead with her hand.

Max simply smiled and crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you're jealous?" he teased. Of course Max was just kidding but man; he has no idea how right he was. Gwen didn't like how Ben looked at Kai. She was particularly green with envy when he worried about her. She desperately tried to get his attention.

"Of course not Grandpa! Ben's my cousin! Why would you think that?! That's just gross!" Gwen responded quickly. She could feel her cheeks heating up.

"I was just kidding Gwen. Don't get all mad. Enough fooling around though, don't you have something you wanna say to Ben?" Max winked as he made his way out of the RV. "Meanwhile I'm gonna visit a nearby swamp and rustle us some grub." Whatever it is, Gwen bet he's cooking something disgusting.

She thought for a while about what Grandpa said. Come to think of it, Ben did always look out for me. I guess he's not that bad. I don't think I would be here today if it wasn't for him but that's mainly Grandpa's fault for making us go on a summer vacation with him. But if it wasn't for this trip I wouldn't have known Ben for who he really is. She stood up and approached Ben. Ben was quick to notice this.

"Waddya want dweeb? Here to trick me some more?" He said without looking at Gwen. Gwen felt a little guilty again.

"No. I was just gonna tell you something." She said trying to get Ben's attention. She got it. Ben looked at her and waited on what she was going to say. Gwen was blushing a little bit which made Ben curious.

"Thanks." She finally said before drawing out a breath. How long was I holding it?

"For what?" Ben responded a bit confuse. Gwen threw her arms around him which shocked Ben a little but he didn't pull away. He was enjoying this warm feeling. He felt very comfortable being with Gwen.

"For everything." Gwen said softly breaking the hug. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek before returning to her laptop with a smile on her face (not to mention blushing deeply. It's okay Gwen. It's perfectly normal).

Ben's face turned red as well (redder than a tomato! That's perfectly normal too! Is there anything in this world that isn't normal anymore?! Guess not). He looked at his cousin with a smile on his face before returning to the task at hand.

**Author's note:** Not my best work I know! I was trying to make a fic that didn't involve such complicated words and I think it turned out great. How about you? What do you think? Please review!


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